On the 31st of December, 1972, the SS Poseidon was on its way from New York City to Athens.
It was to be the ship’s final voyage, with the ocean liner scheduled to be retired and
broken down for scrap after berthing in Greece.
However, before the ship could reach its final destination, an undersea earthquake would
cause a serious accident that would change the fate of the ship, and of almost every
passenger and crewmember on board.
The SS Poseidon began life in 1937 as the RMS Atlantis, a British ocean liner of around
73 million kilograms (or 81,000 tons).
With three funnels and four screws, it was often compared to the RMS Queen Mary, which
was built around the same time.
Both were large British ocean liners intended to compete with French and German superliners
in the period between the two world wars.
After the Second World War, however, fewer and fewer people were interested in booking
travel on an ocean liner.
The airline industry was taking off, and as technology developed it was becoming not just
quicker, but more economical to fly rather than travel by sea.
Eventually the RMS Atlantis was acquired by a cruise line consortium, who changed its
name to THE POSEIDON – ADVENTURE that they anticipated would make them up to $125 million
at the box office.
Unfortunately, it was quickly determined that there was not enough demand to retain the
ageing liner, and it was decided that it should be scrapped.
Tickets for the ship’s final journey sold reasonably well.
Departing just after Christmas, passengers would be sailing through the New Year period,
and arriving in Athens at the beginning of 1973.
While the passengers enjoyed the Poseidon’s final voyage, cruise line officials were keen
to complete the journey as quickly as possible.
This was the source of some tension between the cruise line and the ship’s crew.
For example, Captain Harrison wanted to take on ballast before departure, but was overruled,
as loading sufficient ballast would cause a significant delay.
This lack of ballast proved to be a problem when the ship encountered inclement weather
en route.
At several points during the trip, massive waves caused severe listing, resulting in
a rash of seasickness amongst the passengers.
Again, Captain Harrison argued that the ship should stop to take on water ballast, but
again he was overruled by company representatives.
The Poseidon was already behind schedule, and they could not afford to keep the wrecking
crew in Athens waiting for any longer than necessary.
Because of this, the Poseidon proceeded without ballast.
This left the ship in a precarious position – without ballast it was top-heavy.
In normal conditions this would not be a problem, but in severe weather this could lead to dangerous
degrees of listing.
While the passengers were perturbed by the sea sickness inducing roll of the ship, there
was no undue concern as New Year’s Eve approached.
Passengers and crew gathered in the ship’s grand ballroom to celebrate the advent of
1973 with dinner, drinks and dancing.
It was at the height of this celebration, however, that disaster struck.
A massive undersea earthquake was recorded northwest of Crete, lasting 42 seconds, followed
by a single brief aftershock.
This violent seismic event created a tsunami, which struck the ship just a few seconds after
midnight.
Captain Harrison received a few minutes warning of the approaching wave, and used this time
to close watertight doors, turn the ship hard to the left, dispatch a mayday call, and activate
alarms throughout the ship.
Before he could take any further action, though, the wave impacted the ship broadside, instantly
killing Captain Harrison and everyone else on the bridge.
At this time the vast majority of passengers and crew were gathered in the ballroom.
Preoccupied with the New Year’s celebrations, many did not register the alarm until the
disaster was imminent.
As the massive wall of water impacted the ship, it tilted suddenly to one side, causing
everything in the ballroom – passengers, furniture, and even a grand piano – to tumble
in a mass to the far end of the room.
At the same time a short circuit plunged the ship into darkness.
Over the course of one chaotic minute, the ship continued to roll until it was completely
inverted.
As the wave passed on, the Poseidon was left floating upside-down in the water.
Of the dozens of surviving passengers in the ballroom, many were seriously injured.
Some had fallen, while others had been crushed by falling furniture.
Even those who had survived the inversion of the ship without injury, though, were not
safe – minutes after turning turtle, the Poseidon began to sink.
At this point, surviving passengers were divided on the best course of action.
Some believed that they should attempt to climb upward through the ship, in order to
get as close as possible to the hull – they reasoned that if they were to be rescued,
help would come from above, and that assembling at the hull of the ship would give them the
best chance of being saved.
Others, including the ship’s purser, argued that it was best to remain where they were.
Moving through the inverted ship was a risky prospect, and they considered this risk unnecessary,
as they believed they would be protected by the watertight compartments within the hull.
Following this disagreement, the survivors split into two groups.
A group of 10, lead by an influential preacher named Frank Scott, chose to climb up through
the sinking ship, while approximately 50 remained in the ballroom, awaiting rescue.
Unfortunately, as the ship sank further into the ocean, the ballroom flooded.
Nobody from the latter group survived.
The 10 survivors lead by Reverend Scott made their way up through the inverted ship, tackling
a number of serious obstacles as they did so.
At several points their route was informed by a young boy who had spent a great deal
of his time on the ship exploring, asking question of crewmembers, and studying the
layout of the vessel.
He also had an unusually thorough knowledge of similar disasters for a boy his age.
What had been considered a bizarre hobby by the child’s family became a vital resource
when plotting a route through the overturned ship.
In order to reach the hull of the ship, the survivors also had to pass through a flooded
section of the interior.
In another startling coincidence, one of their number was a retired competitive swimmer,
and was able to guide the others as they swam through the flooded compartment.
Thanks to the unique collection of knowledge, experience and intuition among the survivors,
they were able to make their way successfully to the engine room at the rear of the Poseidon,
where they hull was at its thinnest.
Despite inexplicably stopping for 15 minutes to look for food at one point, they remained
ahead of the rising water.
Unfortunately, during the difficult climb up through the ship, the survivors suffered
a number of casualties.
Three survivors lost their lives in accidental falls, while a fourth suffered a medical emergency
and passed away before reaching the engine room.
This left six survivors, who arrived at the engine room after a long and cinematic journey
through the inverted corridors and vents of the ship.
They arrived just in time, as rescuers cut through the hull and pulled them to safety.
They were the only survivors of the sinking of the SS Poseidon.
An investigation in the wake of the disaster revealed that the lack of ballast had doomed
the ship.
Had the trip been delayed long enough for the ship to take on ballast, as Captain Harrison
had wished, it would likely have been able to weather the wave.
The cruise line representatives who had overruled the Captain had, unfortunately, doomed the
Poseidon to sink.
Despite this, it appears that few lessons were learned from the disaster.
Further almost identical disasters took place in 2005 and 2006, on board ships which were
also named Poseidon – these ocean liners were of similar design to the original SS
Poseidon, but generally received much poorer reviews, with guests complaining about poor
special effects, cheap sets, and unbelievable dialogue.
After first one and then two ships with the same name sunk in remarkably similar circumstances,
it was finally determined that there was little demand for a further remake of the Poseidon.
All being well, the sinking of the SS Poseidon in 1972 is a classic disaster that should,
if we are fortunate, never see another sequel.